Reviving an old Engel
Submitted: Thursday, Mar 05, 2009 at 15:57
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Willem
About 3 years ago our 1985 15litre plastic Engel fridge stopped working on 12volt in the back of the little car. So we went to the camping
shop in te regional town and bought a 40lt Waeco.
The Engel got stuck in the corner of the shed and I used it as a beer fridge on 240volt when the occasions arose.
SWMBO has been telling me about all the food we have to cart with us on our adventure into the deserts this year and storage space has become an issue. So I grabbed the old Engel from its place in the shed, drew the cobwebs away and started fiddling with the 12volt cord. Managed to find another head of the cig socket bit, replaced a rusted looking fuse, fiddled with the wires and away it went. Now there must be a bad connection somewhere as the plug only works at a certain angle(that plug broke years ago and I took the wiring out the top of the back of the fridge) so I found the right angle and taped it with 100mph tape. It works
well and still freezes. Then I taped some rubber to the bottom of the fridge as one of the feet has broken off and got it sitting level.
So with a bit of mucking around in the storage compartment with the jig saw and the drill, the old Engel sits proudly next to the 32lt Engel and Two-zone. Hopefully the 70 litres of fridge space will be enough for our desert sojourn of 30 days!
Cheers
Reply By: Member - Keith C (NSW) - Thursday, Mar 05, 2009 at 17:21
Thursday, Mar 05, 2009 at 17:21
Gday, willem,We use an 18l waeco as a dedicated freezer in the back of the cruiser,it is amazing how much you can pack in. Jan puts meat into serves in freezer bags before packing.On our last trip,10 weeks,she also cryovacced some as
well,it lasted the full trip.On the wiring problem,why don`t you have a look on ABRs web site under breakers and fuses, some good,safe, gear there.
I think it`s best to hard-wire any permanent 12v gear into fused a j-box in the storage area, then you only have one pair of heavy cables to your aux batt., up front.Hope this is helpful .
Best regards Keith C
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Follow Up By: Willem - Thursday, Mar 05, 2009 at 17:54
Thursday, Mar 05, 2009 at 17:54
Hi Keith
I have a new fusebox under the bonnet (the subject of a long thread on this
forum a while back). Still one fuse available in the box :-)
Judith bought a Cryovac machine recently to facilitate long term camping. Almost a bit late in the day for this but previously they were too expensive.
So yes, I will probably hard wire it. At the moment the cig socket ios attached to a 240volt wire(another long discussion here) that runs from the fusebox to the rear of the wagon. Only positive and negative wires are used. I use the socket for lighting and pumping for 12v appliances.
Cheers
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